Clowns Don't Bounce
by MaybeWolf
Summary: Jade's play actually takes place on the night of the first HA Prome. Only the attendance isn't what she expected.


**A what if story, based on the idea that Jade holds her play in a club on the same night as Tori's Prome. The only person that turns up is Robbie, much to Jade's irritation.**

**[Robbie]**

Stalking away from the sounds coming from school, I grit my teeth and wrap my jacket closer. The wind is bitterly cold and and I wonder why I'm even bothering. As the lights of Prome grow smaller and the shadows grow longer, I turn into a small alley. The bouncer eyes me suspiciously, he's huge. Built like a truck.

"Ticket?" He mutters, looking down his nose at me. Nervously, I fumble around in my pocket. After what seems like an eternity of his gaze boring into me, I finally produce a crumpled up piece of paper.

"Go in." He states, forcing the old red door open. It creaks and struggles against his might before finally giving in. I quickly make my way into the dingy club, eager to get away from the doorman.

Looking around, I wonder if I'm early. There's nobody sitting in front of the stage and only a few weathered looking individuals sitting at the bar. I doubt they're here for the show. All they're interested in seeing here is the bottom of another glass. A quick glance at a neon clock confirms I'm right on time and I take a seat near the front, suddenly unsure of myself.

**[Jade]**

"Kill the lights." I mutter, walking past the lone stage hand. He casually flips the switch and I take a deep breath, turning my back and waiting for the curtains to be raised. The velvet cloak ascends and immediately I wish it hadn't. The smoke drifting through the air almost chokes me, but it does little to conceal the truth. Everybody went to Prome instead of coming to my play.

Well, almost everybody. I have an audience of one. He's sitting close, but not right at the front. His eyes are obscured by a dark pair of sunglasses, instantly I have the urge to slap them off his face. Then I realize something. Not only would that leave me performing to a bunch of tables, but of everybody from school, he's the only one who saw fit to grace me with his presence. It's infuriating, so I do the only thing I can. I perform.

**[Robbie]**

Looking onto the stage, blue light flooding my eyes. I watch Jade's play. It's actually good, like really good. Once it's over, I stand and clap. Not just clap but whistle loudly. I look like a jackass, the only person in the bar who even knew when it ended I'm sure. As I make a fool of myself, I Jade simply gets up and walks off the stage. She doesn't take a bow or even acknowledge my existence.

A sigh ambling out of my throat, I move towards the stage and simply leap onto it. A dive like this was never going to have anybody other than a bouncer at the front door. The stagehand stares at me, like he's going to say something. Whatever he was going to say stays lost in his throat though. Walking towards a door simply marked cast, I knock gently. Bracing myself for what's about to come.

**[Jade]**

Somebody is knocking at the door, I don't want to answer it. Grimly, I stare into the small, cracked mirror. My eyes are framed mascara, some of it's running down my face too. A result of a brief outburst that I quickly halted, knowing what my father would say. He's never approved of displaying your emotions.

Knock, knock. There it is again, slightly louder and more insistent this time. The thoughts swirling around in my head are interrupted yet again. Annoyed, I don't even both to fix my make up. It's probably just the stage hand again. As the door opens, I see those stupid sunglasses again.

"What?" I demand, looking at the boy in front of me. It's Shapiro again. Mentally, I'm wondering if I should be filing for some sort of court order against him. He looks nervous, trembling like the last leaf on a tree.

"Uh, I just wanted to tell you how good your play was." He answers, I open and close my mouth. I want to say something biting, but it won't come out. I want to send him on his way, but the words wont come.

**[Robbie]**

I'm pretty sure Jade wants to say something, instead she opts for forcing her arms over her chest and glaring at me. The visual of her mascara running down her face contrasts with her gaze. I invite myself into the small dressing room. It's scary out in that bar, even scarier than Jade.

"What are you doing?" She demands, gaze hardening even further. I wonder if I'll turn to stone, it sure seems like Jade is doing her best to make that a reality right now. I shiver involuntarily, maybe this was a bad idea.

"It's scary out there." I answer simply. Jade's lips push into a cruel smile, I thought I saw something brighten in her eyes. Something like genuine amusement. It was probably just a trick of the flickering light above us.

"You really are pathetic, Shapiro." She mutters, turning away from me and looking deeply into the mirror. If the look she had just been giving me was capable of turning some one to stone, the one she's giving herself could cause you to burst into flames.

**[Jade]**

Ignoring Shapiro, I turn to the mirror. Glaring at myself, I hate that nobody came tonight. This hurts more then the last time Beck broke up with me. I remember back to that time, I completely lost it. Even going to Vega for help. Miss Perfect even managed to make things ok between us for a while. But like all good things, whatever it is between me and Beck had to come to an end. I guess it's no shock he didn't come tonight.

"Are you just going to stand there?" I ask, irritated. Wallowing in your own misery is hard enough when you're alone, let alone with somebody else watching you do it. I break eye contact with the mirror and glare at Shapiro again, wondering why he won't get the message.

"Um..." He begins. I wave dismissively at him, motioning for him to silence whatever he was going to say. I shake my head, his absolute lack of backbone could actually come in handy. Instead of protesting, he's just standing there sulking.

"Go and get me a drink, you can handle that can't you?" I ask, suddenly the urge to drown my sorrows in the bottom of a bottle doesn't sound like such a bad idea. "Vodka."

"Jade, we're underage." He whines, looking more worried about being arrested or something stupid than anything. At least I'm not the only thing that frightens him I suppose. Looking at his face, I can almost see the visions of red and blue sirens that are surely playing out in front of his eyes.

"Just do it. They don't care here." I instruct. I don't know if it's true, I just know I want to forget about today as quickly as possible. He looks at me again, something resembling defiance in his eyes flashing for a moment.

**[Robbie]**

"Fine." I relent, I know this is going to end badly. I don't really want to go back out there, but only having to go out to get a drink is one thing, waiting out there until the end of Prome by myself is another. I shake my head, pushing off the wall and striding out of the small room.

"One bottle of Vodka." I ask, looking up at the barman. He sneers down at me, his glare penetrating my dark glasses. It's no wonder Jade ended up performing here, she and the staff here share the same hard look.

"$60." He states, handing me a large bottle filled with clear liquid. I don't know much about liquor, but this isn't any bigger than a bottle of Cola, how can it cost so much more? Reaching into my pocket, I rustle around blindly groping for the money. Eventually I pull out the needed amount and pass it to the barman.

As I'm walking away I can feel his murderous glare. Shivering, I wonder why I even bothered coming tonight. It's strange what you're willing to do for somebody who makes most of your days miserable. Approaching the door, I let a sigh escape me as I turn the handle.

**[Jade]**

"Did you get it?" I ask, not even turning to acknowledge Shapiro. I've almost gotten all of the make up off my face, no reason to stop just for him. Behind me, I hear him take a seat on the crappy folding chair I rejected as a possible seat.

"Yeah, cost me $60 too." He laments, sounding morose. Stupid Shapiro, probably got ripped off. I know he's trying and all, but that doesn't excuse him from being completely useless at even the most simple of tasks.

"How did one..." I trail off, seeing the bottle In his hands. I had thought he'd come back with a regular sized pre-mixed Vodka Cruiser. Of course not. He's come back with a huge bottle of straight Vodka. I shouldn't be surprised he's done something like this, the kid carries around a puppet most of the time. Of course he's never gotten drunk at a party.

"You got straight Vodka dumbass, that's why it cost you so much." I announce, finally decoding the mystery for him. The light in the room washes over him as he leans forward, it's actually like he's had some kind of epiphany.

"Shit." He mutters, catching me off guard. A small laugh forces it's way past my lips, I quickly stifle it. He's grinning now and I feel a sure of fresh annoyance.

"Did you at least get glasses and something to mix it with?" His confused expression tells me no. Of course not Jade, that would be too easy. Fucking Shapiro.


End file.
